Friday, April 25, 1997
Ballet troupe invades Albany
By BILL WHITAKER
Associate Editor
ALBANY - If local restaurateur Ali Esfandiary smelled a bit
fishy Thursday, blame the Fort Worth Dallas Ballet.
The Iranian-born proprietor of the Fort Griffin General Merchandise
Restaurant was caught trying to decide if dancers of the distinguished
ballet troupe would refrain from overeating to maintain their
reed-thin figures or if their fiery metabolism would simply burn
up however much they devoured.
Finally, he settled on peeling about 100 pounds of shrimp special.
Such is the impact of the Fort Worth Dallas Ballet on this
town of 2,300. The troupe, including 18 dancers, mounted a production
at the newly restored Aztec Theater on Thursday night and were
slated to do two matinee shows for students from Moran and Albany
schools today.
"A lot of times, we barely know where we are or what's
going on," 26-year-old Michael Lively, a six-year veteran
of the Fort Worth Dallas Ballet, said of hectic life on the road.
"And often, about 11 o'clock at night, when we're done, there's
not even a place to eat.
"But our company manager found out a lot about this town,"
he said. "I mean, I made sure during the afternoon I had
time to go over to the remarkable museum they have in this town,
and we're all real glad the restaurant is staying open tonight
for us."
That Albany was able to get the Fort Worth Dallas Ballet is
remarkable, especially considering the near-calamity that befell
Albany's Old Jail Art Center, which has been formally hosting
the troupe's visit to this West Texas town.
Another prominent Dallas dance troupe had been tapped some
time ago to visit Albany, Old Jail Art Center director Joeliene
Magoto said, "but they moved to Canada and didn't bother
to notify us. They moved in '96 and I didn't find out till '97."
Happily, the Texas Commission on the Arts, which is helping
fund the Albany appearance, suggested instead the Fort Worth Dallas
Ballet. The ballet company, which happened to have this week open
on its schedule, was happy to oblige - and at a much lower rate
than they usually charge.
"It's a remarkably small theater, but it's a beautiful
little theater," ballet costumer Genie Stallings said of
the Aztec. "It's certainly not like you're stuck in some
hole in the wall in a junior high. But what's really great is
that everybody in this town knows why we're here."
Magoto said many local merchants have bent over backward to
accommodate the visiting ballet troupe, including the Albany Motor
Inn, which allowed the troupe to stay at a rate of $10 a night,
and Halbert's Country Emporium, which is preparing box lunches
for the troupe's post-matinee lunch today.
Even before Thursday evening's performance, local dance instructor
Betsy Parsons took some of her youngest students - most of them
age 8 - to watch the troupe rehearse Ravel's "Tzigane."
If nothing else, Parsons joked, the experience left the pint-sized
dancers more anxious than ever to obtain their very own pointe
shoes.
The troupe's visit was dedicated in memory of the late Marge
Bray, who not only introduced many children to dance and ballet
in Albany but also for many years oversaw production of the Fort
Griffin Fandangle, a summertime musical pageant about the settling
of Shackelford County.
When someone remarked it was too bad Bray hadn't lived to see
the Fort Worth Dallas Ballet visit Albany, Parsons replied: "Oh,
I'm sure she's watching all this from above!"
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Copyright ©1997,
Abilene Reporter-News / Texnews / E.W. Scripps Publications
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